Material Needs and Cultural Retention: Legitimation Strategies in Qatar and the UAE Classic rentier state theory argues that citizens’ silence can be bought through economic allocations alone. Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), because of their levels of oil wealth, are seen as typical rentier states, spending significant sums of money on welfare benefits for their citizens, including free healthcare, education, and employment. Yet although money matters for political stability, it is not a holistic explanation for domestic politics in the Arab Gulf States. Building on qualitative and quantitative research that shows that Gulf citizens are not always content with the economic allocations they receive, this paper argues that the states of Qatar and the UAE invest significant resources in invented traditions with the aim of bolstering political stability through societal justification and legitimation. By investing considerable amounts of time and money, these Gulf states aim to legitimize their rule by providing their citizens with a sense of belonging and unity. First, the paper details examples of the means used by rulers in Qatar and the UAE to invent traditions, such as unified cultural dress and the use of museums, heritage villages, and national days to rewrite the countries’ history. These examples cast doubt on classic rentier state theory’s central claim that economic allocations are sufficient to achieve political stability. Second, the paper investigates the relative success of these heritage constructions. While the relatively small populations of Gulf nationals are often viewed as homogeneous by the outside world, the quest for a unified sense of citizenship has been hindered by a legally divided citizenship that is closely associated with inequality in economic allocations. Evidence is drawn from primary and secondary sources, including original research on Qatar’s Heritage Village and interviews with Gulf nationals affected by tiered citizenship laws. The paper concludes that Gulf citizens need an emotional attachment to their country in the same way as citizens throughout the world, and that economic allocations alone cannot ensure political stability in even the richest states of the Arab Gulf.